Buldan is a small village of 15000 people built on a hill side in the inner Aegean region of Turkey. The town's tradition of handwoven textiles dates back to the 13th century. By the end of the 19th century, there were over 1,500 looms accounting for the largest textile production of its time. With the advent of modern textile machine manufacturing, Buldan's capacity has shrunk down to a few looms that cater mostly to the local shops. Orta Blu wants to revive the local Traditional Weaving Craft by increasing the amount of looms, providing better salaries for the weavers and, above all, create a more viable business model so that the weavers and their products will be able to take advantage of a more global system of sales and distribution.

These are the images of our first visit to Buldan. It was a quick one day trip to familiarize ourselves with the place and the people. We needed to make an initial assessment on the state of the local weaving industry, and the areas where improvements were needed. We met with Halil, a local entrepreneur that owns a shop in the village, and he took us around to see some of the existing looms. We met the weavers and listened to their stories. Stay tuned for more images, videos, and facts about… »

During our second visit to Buldan, Mr. Kiyat, CEO of Orta Anadolu, accompanied us. We had a great time with the people of Buldan. We saw their everyday life, and strengthened our commitment to revive this traditional weaving culture by increasing the amount of looms and providing better salaries for the weavers. The project has inspired much enthusiasm both at Orta Blu and in Buldan.